There was a healthy amount of soul-searching inside the Nuggets’ locker room late Sunday night.
. The rookie was tabbed to address the media even though several veterans were requested.“The way we’re playing is unacceptable,” he said, according to Hyland.
That type of effort, yielding that type of humbling, left head coach Michael Malone to ponder the internal fortitude of his group. While he’s called out his team’s toughness on several occasions this season, it’s not often he’s questioned their direction.The next 10 games, he said, would reveal plenty about his team’s character. Hyland identified the biggest culprit numerous times throughout his six-minute press conference: effort.
“If somebody’s kicking our , and we’re fighting and competing, and they’re just better than us, so be it,” Malone said. “… But, if we’re getting our butts kicked, and we’re just taking it, possession after possession, heads are dropped, body language, giving in, I’m not going to reward that behavior. There’s principles in life, and that goes against every principle inside my body.”